Tristan Taormino – Page 41

Poly House Party Weekend coming up fast!

This coming weekend, June 3rd through 5th, is Poly House Party Weekend, an international event created by a group of volunteers from the Polyamory Leadership Network. This event urges people everywhere to plan their own unique poly get-togethers:

It is barbecues, keggers, potlucks, raves, picnics, blues dances, play parties, tantric retreats, game nights, field days, movement fundraisers, cuddle parties, and fancy dinners. It is raising awareness about our culture, our relationship preference, and the idea that freedom of relationship choice is important to society at large. It is a community bonding experience, our way -- because everyone will do it a little differently.

Currently there are events scheduled in California, Washington, Colorado, New York, Maryland, New Hampshire, Georgia, British Columbia, and Ontario. There's still time for you to host a party of your own as well!

(Poly House Party Weekend can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.)

Documentary about triad screening May 10

Next week, the documentary "Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family" (2004) will be screened as part of the Stranger than Fiction series at the IFC Center in NYC. The documentary chronicles 8 years of a relationship between three people:

THREE OF HEARTS follows the experiment of a New York menage a trois to sustain a lasting relationship. We watch the trio go through trials and tribulations of explaining the relationship to outsiders, trying to have a baby, and running a business. Filmed over 8 years, they go through dramatic changes that raise provocative questions about relationships in general.

The screening takes place on Tuesday, May 10th at 8 p.m. and includes a Q&A with the director, Susan Kaplan. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased online.

Sacred sex retreats from the Body Electric School

The Body Electric School is hosting two sacred sex retreats for women and queers in May. The first is a residential workshop from May 13 to 15 in New York. This workshop is called "Power, Surrender & Intimacy" and is taught by Alex Jade. Here's a description of it.

This workshop explores techniques of BDSM practice, using the circle of women as a grounded, respectful container in which to discover and clarify edges of empowerment, liberation and embodiment. Learn to recognize aspects of yourself that are continually engaged in power dynamics, and hence become more choiceful about how you can share power with compassion and skill. Learn ways that power and sensation can be wielded for a healing intention, and experience the intense fire generated by a surrender to trust. Expect heightened awareness of your body’s capacity for sensation, a greater sense of personal empowerment, and appreciation for the connection between the divine energy of power and the human energy of surrender.

You can register online for this retreat.

The second retreat is called "Celebrating the Body Erotic for Women." It takes place in Oakland from May 20 to 22 and is taught by Lizz Randall.

In a safe, serious and playful space that respects boundaries, embrace pleasure and experience your body as powerful, expressive and sacred. The class expands awareness and sensation through a process of breath, movement and touch. Each woman's choices and rhythms are honored and celebrated. This workshop is for women of all sexual orientations and ages who are ready to learn about their own power to illuminate and enjoy sexuality and sensuality within a community of women.

Are poly parents “alloparents”?

In Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's book, Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, the anthropological term "alloparent" is used to describe a caregiver who is not a biological parent. According to Hrdy's theory, infants learn to read the emotional experiences of others by interacting with alloparents.

In a very thought-provoking blog post, Valerie White wonders if Hrdy's theory of "alloparents" can apply to parents in poly relationships. She was so intrigued by the idea that she wrote to Hrdy.

Dr Hrdy graciously replied, “I did not have polyamory in mind when I wrote Mothers and Others but you are right. Our worldviews (mine primarily derived from the ethnographic literature on “Pleistocene-appropriate” hunters and gatherers, yours from personal experiences and accounts of compatriots) seem remarkably compatible. Many thanks for sharing yours, Best wishes, Sarah.”

White recommends Mothers and Others to anyone looking for validation regarding polyamorous parenting. She also shares some personal stories about her triad's children.

My triad's twins are nearly nine years old. They’re healthy, funny, lively, affectionate, bright and secure. They know they have extra parents, and they feel blessed to have them. One of the twins, reading this over my shoulder, remarked, "Having extra parents means less babysitters."